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Bowman Bound for Sochi

by

USSA

2014-01-12 13:26

Maddie Bowman clinched a nomination to the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Sunday with a win at the halfpipe final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face at Breckenridge, while Ayana Onozuka of Japan and Aussie Amy Sheehan took second and third. (Sarah Brunson/U.S. Freeskiing)

BRECKENRIDGE, CO (Jan. 12) – Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) clinched a nomination to the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Sunday with a win in the halfpipe final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face at Breckenridge. Adverse weather at the venue forced FIS officials to reschedule the finals twice, and snow fell on the halfpipe while Bowman, Ayana Onozuka of Japan and Aussie Amy Sheehan laid down the top runs of the day. Brita Sigourney (Carmel, CA) and Annalisa Drew (Andover, MA) finished just shy of the podium in fourth and fifth, putting Bowman in an unbeatable position in the qualification standings. Next, the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix heads to Park City Jan. 17-18 for the final two qualification events.

HIGHLIGHTS

Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) clinched a nomination to the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Sunday with a win in the halfpipe final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face at Breckenridge.

Ayana Onozuka of Japan and Aussie Amy Sheehan filled out the podium in second and third.

Brita Sigourney (Carmel, CA) and Annalisa Drew (Andover, MA) finished just shy of the podium in fourth and fifth, putting Bowman in an unbeatable position in the qualification standings.

An impressive five U.S. women qualified for the finals, including Angeli VanLaanen (Bellingham, WA) and Devin Logan (West Dover, VT), who finished sixth and seventh.

Adverse weather at the venue forced FIS officials to reschedule the finals twice, but the contest ran despite near-blizzard conditions, much to the agreement of the athletes.

The staff at Breckenridge was responsible for getting the contest off the ground, opening the mountain after another eight inches of snow fell overnight.

Between the men’s and women’s runs, the athletes helped the event staff clear snow off the halfpipe to ensure a fair competition.

On Friday the slopestyle skiing finals were cancelled due to the challenging weather, and the qualifier scores counted as the finals.

Sunday’s final also marked the end of the FIS World Cup tour for halfpipe skiing, and Devin Logan (West Dover, VT) was named the FIS World Cup halfpipe champion and awarded the crystal globe for her winning the most FIS halfpipe points throughout the tour.

Next, the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face heads to Park City Jan. 17-18 for the final two qualification events, where the women will fight for podium spots to meet the minimum objective criteria for qualification.

QUOTESMaddie BowmanI wish everyone had better conditions and we could really see the full potential of everyone, but I’m definitely stoked and I don’t think it’s hit me yet.

I’ve never been in this position, it’s our first Olympics, but it’s pretty exciting. I’ve just been trying to take each competition day by day, not looking at the big ‘O,’ but now that I know I get to compete there so I’m pretty excited.

With all the snow in the pipe it was tough to go big and it was tough to stay positive, but once you figure out one of those two things you’re in good shape.

I don’t think this is going to change things at all going into Park City. I just feel good going into it and I’m excited I get to ski in front of my friends and in front of everyone. It’ll be really cool.